Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Boeing plans 737 MAX aircraft return to service in mid-2020

The Boeing Company informed customers and suppliers on Tuesday that they are currently estimating the ungrounding of the 737 MAX will begin during mid-2020.

“As we have emphasized, the Federal Aviation Administration and other global regulators will determine when the 737 MAX returns to service,” Boeing said in a statement. “We are informing our customers and suppliers that we are currently estimating that the ungrounding of the 737 MAX will begin during mid-2020. We acknowledge and regret the continued difficulties that the grounding of the 737 MAX has presented to our customers, our regulators, our suppliers, and the flying public.”

Following Boeing's announcement, Canadian-based airline WestJet announced it will be updating its schedule to remove the 737 MAX aircraft through to June 24. WestJet has completed more than 98 percent of its planned departures even while its 13 MAX aircraft remain on the ground.

The 737 Max was grounded after the crashes of two jets – a Lion Air flight in October 2018 and an Ethiopian Airlines flight last March.

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